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The abductors were also said to be using telephone conversations strategically to assess the financial capacity of victims’ families
KaNo —
Kidnappers holding 20 prospective members of the National Youth Service Corps have reduced their ransom demand from an initial N50m per victim to N5m each, bringing the total sum demanded from the victims’ families down from N1bn to N100m.
The victims were abducted on Thursday along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Imo State while travelling in two buses from Ibadan to their orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states. The attack occurred around Umunoha, a stretch of road that has gained notoriety for frequent kidnappings.
Despite the reduction in ransom, anxiety among the families has deepened following reports that the abductors have begun physically assaulting the captives.
One of the affected parents, Alhaja Alimot Akande, who spoke through her daughter in Ibadan, Oyo State, said the abducted graduates had been subjected to beatings since Friday, raising fears for their safety.
“The kidnappers had reduced their demand from the earlier N50m per victim to N5m each,” she said. “They are still demanding N5m. They have come down to N5m each.”
Akande noted that while the reduction in ransom might suggest a willingness by the abductors to negotiate, it had done little to ease the distress of the families.
“It has been horrible, scary and overwhelming,” she said. “We are still very worried because our children are still in their hands, and now they have started beating them.”
According to her, the kidnappers had shown no restraint in their treatment of the victims, subjecting both male and female corps members to physical assault.
“They are not sparing anybody. They are beating all of them,” she added.
The abductors were also said to be using telephone conversations strategically to assess the financial capacity of victims’ families. Akande disclosed that one of the abducted corps members had been allowed to communicate with his father under close monitoring.
“The abductors would alert the victim whenever his father’s call came in and allow him to speak because they believed the father could provide the ransom,” she said.
“They know money will come out of the father’s hands, so they allow him to talk. But they have been beating him as well.”she added.
The families, she said, were relying on advice from the police to delay payment while efforts to secure the victims’ rescue continued.
“The police are telling us to still be buying time. We are still looking for the money. Depending, they will see them rescued,” she said.
Some of the abducted prospective corps members identified by their families include Makinde Mary Oluwapelumi, Akande Kehinde Morufat, Abdul Temiloluwa Sarah, Adeniran Mariam Olulola, Adefioye Ayomide Isaac, Adewale Paul Iyanuoluwa and Oyede Esther Funmilayo.
The names were released during a visit by the victims’ parents to the private residence of the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, in Bodija, Ibadan North Local Government Area.
During the visit, the monarch assured the families that efforts were ongoing to secure the safe return of the victims.
“I want to assure that your children would be rescued unharmed,” Ladoja said. “We will relate whatever information we gather to you. The police are working round the clock to secure their rescue. Don’t worry yourself, the police are up to the task, and nothing would happen to your children.”
However, the parents disputed earlier claims that 10 passengers had been rescued by security operatives following the attack.
According to them, those who escaped did so by fleeing into the surrounding bush during the ambush.
The Managing Director of Uko Akwa Ibom Motors Nigeria Limited, Isiah Akpan, had earlier confirmed that the kidnappers initially demanded N50m per victim before reducing the amount.
Meanwhile, the Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Olugbenga Abimbola, said he had established contact with his counterpart in Imo State and that coordinated efforts were underway to rescue the victims.
“I had already contacted Imo State CP,” he said. “We have been talking since the day of the incident, and he assured me that the victims would be rescued unhurt.”
The incident has once again drawn attention to the growing insecurity along major highways in the South-East, where kidnappings for ransom have become increasingly frequent, targeting travellers, commuters and even security personnel.
In a related development, the African Democratic Congress has called for the temporary suspension of the NYSC scheme, citing the rising risks faced by corps members across the country.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said the Federal Government should suspend the scheme for at least one year to allow for a comprehensive review and restructuring that prioritises the safety of participants.
“I think the NYSC is still relevant, but we need to respond to the current situation of insecurity in the country,” Abdullahi said in an interview.
“If we were to advise the President, we think this is the time to suspend it for at least one year to give room for proper reorganisation, in such a way that it will protect the young people and also make the scheme worthwhile for them.”
He acknowledged the historical significance of the NYSC in promoting national unity since its establishment in 1973, following the Nigerian Civil War, but stressed that changing security realities required urgent reforms.
“It is a very important scheme for fostering national unity,” he said. “The issues that the NYSC sought to address are still there. But we need to be responsible. It is about the lives of young people more than anything else. It is a different country today from what it was many years ago.”
The abduction has sparked renewed public concern over the safety of prospective corps members, many of whom are routinely posted to unfamiliar and sometimes volatile regions far from their homes.
Security analysts have repeatedly called for improved intelligence gathering, enhanced highway patrols and greater collaboration between federal and state security agencies to curb the menace of kidnapping.
The families of the abducted graduates remain in anguish, torn between raising funds to meet the ransom demands and hoping that security agencies will secure their loved ones’ release without payment.
As efforts continue, the fate of the 20 young Nigerians hangs in the balance, underscoring the persistent challenges of insecurity confronting the country and the urgent need for lasting solutions.
